S6: E1 - The Prime Recommendation

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 7 - Sickbay]

[Ensign Tora Zalos|Deck 7|Sickbay|USS CHallenger]

One picosecond. For one picosecond Tora had experienced the most incredible, yet most disorienting experience of her life. She didn't even notice when the temporal pulse had hit at first. Then, for that single picosecond, she was everywhere and nowhere all at once. Risa. Cardassia. Starfleet Academy. The Challenger. A rush of sensations assaulted her brain, and then all went black. It was an incredibly disorienting experience, to say the least. She barely registered her knees liquefying underneath her and the thump of her head against the floor as she fell.

She honestly had no clue how much later it was when her brain un-fuzzied itself, and she began to regain consciousness. Where was she? Definitely elevated by the feeling of it. Was she on her back or on her side? It was so hard to tell. Scrunching up her nose she grunted and made to straighten her legs as the world around her came into focus. Sickbay. This was sickbay. "Wh- What happened...?" She grunted to anyone that would hear.

Lahr had gotten nearly a dozen of the Biobeds up and working when he first noticed the pair of cadets (who had he left down on deck 15)  come in with the Cardassian science officer that had been unconscious in Stellar cartography.  Oh roozh! Had she not woken up yet!?   He realized belatedly he probably should have told someone in medical that she was down there.  Oops.

Because all other beds were filled, the Cardassian woman was placed onto the last available spot - the dreaded 'haunted' biobed.. or Biobed 13 as Lahr called it.  Even when the ship had no power issues, this biobed only worked part of the time despite being constantly checked over by engineers.

Because Lahr had left that bed for last, Chloe had to do her initial assessment of the Cardassian with only a medical tricorder.  The head nurse marked the Cardassian patient as a yellow (delayed treatment for non-life threatening injuries),  put her in queue for treatment and called on one of the enlisted medics to keep an eye on the woman, with instructions to inform her if her condition changed.

That had been 5 minutes ago, and the medic had been called away by one of the doctors.  Lahr had finished working on Biobed Twelve and all that was left was the haunted biobed on which Tora lay.

Not to be rude, Lahr talked to the unconscious woman as he started his work.   "Don't mind me Ensign, I'm just here to fix the Biobed you are on.   I just need to pop open the panel on the side here." Pop.  Arrayed in front of him was a tray of at least 200 chips to be pulled.  "And you see all these chips... they need to be reset by pulling them out and poppin' them back it.  It's kinda like a hard reboot." He explained as he began the long tedious process.   At this rate, he'd be needing treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome - with all the repetitive moment he'd been doing lately.

Then the Ensign lying on the bed, suddenly moved and tried to talk.  Lahr paused his work and stood up, ready to prevent her from sitting up if needed.

"Whoa whoa.  Just stay still. You're in Sickbay.  I think you hit your head when you collapsed. Lemme call one of the staff."   Lahr stayed by Tora's bedside while he looked about for someone not already treating someone.  But everyone looked kinda busy, so he opted to press the 'CALL' button on biobed... only to recall in a facepalm moment.. that he hadn't yet fixed the biobed.

So instead, Lahr pursed his lips and gave a shrill whistle.  Several people glanced his way.  Lahr gave a slight wave.  "Um, she just woke up. he said pointing to Tora.

[Kyan Mackenzie]

[Lt. Commander Kyan Mackenzie | The Landser Kids' house]

"œAre ye sure this'll work?" Kyan asked, looking over the costume. "œI dinnae think they're gonna just let me in wearing a mask and costume"¦ "˜specially if the're telepaths."

"œIt doesn't have to." Mikel answered. "œYou just need to get into the car. Then we can get you to the president's office and you can just tell them who you are. I'm sure she'd see you then right? She has to."

Or her security people get antsy and shoot me. Kyan thought. And if he was being honest, that was a far more likely outcome than he wished it was. Still, he didn't see any alternatives. If the Landsers took Galloway's message the wrong way it would be bedlam. Not knowing where the others were"¦ or maybe even when they were given the temporal  distortions, he might be the only one left to do anything.

Kyan put that thought out of his head. "œOk den." He said, picking up the mask. "œLet's do it."

A few minutes later the four of them walked out of the house and into the courtyard, what someone from Earth might call a front lawn. The vehicle sat directly in front of the house at the end of the yard. They'd almost reached the family vehicle when someone spoke up behind them.

"œWhere do you children think you're going?"

The voice definitely belongs to a woman"¦ and older one by the sound of it. All of them froze for a moment. Knowing he needed to be the one to say something, Mikel turned around.

"œOh.. Good day K'ren." The Landser teen smiled nervously. "œI umm"¦ I am taking my brother and sister and their friend to the park. They've been in the house all day you know."

"œThe park!?" she sputtered. "œYou can't go to the park"¦ haven't"¦ haven't you seen the news?" she asked incredulously. "œNo no you have to stay at home"¦ and your parents, where are they?"

Eely'ot and G'erti had turned around by now. Kyan followed suit so as not to draw any more attention to himself then they already had. Through the mask's eyeholes, Kyan could see that the lady was older, and accompanied by a man of about the same age, although he stood further back, leaning on the fence.

Nosy Neighbors, as common an element as existed in the universe, and just as troublesome on whatever planet they resided.

"œOur parents are at work. How come you're not at work too?" G'erti piped up defiantly.

Kyan grinned behind the mask. For a girl, she was all right. Even though she had acted out a whole documentary on her collection of dolls when he's been frozen.

"œNo one is at work." The lady huffed. "œAnd you should watch your tongue young lady!" Then her nosy gaze fell on Kyan, conspicuous in his mask and costume, which ironically was a space alien from some Landser movie or something. "œAnd you should go home too. Your parents are probably dying of worry."

Kyan almost laughed aloud but contained that, and bit back a remark about how they'd done that a long time ago. He decided against speaking, instead glancing up at Mikel, who returned it.

"œUmm.. well.. We're going to take him home after the park so"¦ uhh"¦ bye now." He stammered, turning for the vehicle.

"œWhat are you hiding?" K'ren asked pointedly.

Mikel was fairly adept at shielding his thoughts. Those exercises were basic primary school curriculum. Even Eely'ot and G'erti had some training in it. But Kyan wasn't even telepathic. If the old lady wanted to dig in his head, she wouldn't even need a shovel. The Landser kids looked at one another, and then at him. Without a word, Mikel scooped up G'erti and hurried to the vehicle with Eely'ot and Kyan on his heels. As he ran to the vehicle where Mikel and G'erti were already piling in, Kyan felt something familiar. It was the same sensation as when a Betazoid was listening to him. And he didn't know how to keep it from happening, nor did he know how far she could dig.

When she gasped and started rambling about how "œthey" were here, he got his answer. He turned to say something, figuring he ought to at least try and calm her down but he didn't even get turned all the way around before Mikel had grabbed him and tossed him in the vehicle like a sack of potatoes, slamming the door behind him. "œListening to thoughts without permission is a crime you old cave moose!" the teenager admonished her before jumping in the driver's seat and stomping on the gas.

Kyan watched K'ren out the window as they sped away. As the distance grew, the tingling sensation became less pronounced and stopped completely after about a thousand meters or so. Kyan was relieved when it did. But he also felt guilty about putting the Landser siblings in what could end up being a bad situation if things went south. "œSorry yous lot are in this mess." He offered to Eely'ot, who sat beside him in the rear seats. "œI hope it does nae get ye into trouble with yer folks so."

Eely'ot grinned. "œIt's Mikel who's going to be in trouble"¦ for taking the car"¦ and for called K'ren a cave moose." He laughed. "œBut she is a cave moose though."

"œWhat's a cave moose?" Kyan asked, trying to picture it. The translator had translated the Landser animal's name to moose, but moose didn't live in caves, so it was a little confusing.

"œIt's a big animal with flat horns, and they only come out of their caves to bray at other animals and keep them away." G'erti suppied matter of factly. "œAnd they don't have fur, so they're all wrinkly."

"œLike K'ren" Mikel added, keeping his eyes on the road.

Kyan laughed. "œAye.. it's a fitting name tae be sure, an no mistake. She's definitely a cave moose."

All of them had a good laugh at that. "œIf you want, we can go to the zoo after you meet the president. They have lots of animals." G'erti offered, turning to look back. "œEven some cave mooses."

Mikel chuckled. "œGreat idea. You can get a picture with K'ren's brothers and sisters."

Everyone broke out laughing again. After that, the conversation took a turn back to the question and answer session that had commenced after Mikel had unfrozen Kyan. He told them about his planet, Earth, and a few other notable places he'd been, and they filled him in on some of their cultural traditions. Everything was smooth for the first ten or fifteen kilometers. Then Mikel noticed another vehicle in the rear view closing on them quickly. The teenager was a new driver, and hadn't even taken the public driving exam yet, so he'd been diligent about not drawing attention to them considering his unlicensed status and the other small matter of there being an alien in his back seat.

Kyan noticed his worried glances into the mirror and turned to look for himself. By then the other vehicle was close enough to make out that there were passengers in the front and sitting in the back of what on Earth would have been called a "œtruck bed." He turned back around. "œIs it police?"

Mikel shook his head. "œ I don't know who it is. Maybe they're just trying to get somewhere really fast."

"œThose look like guns that the ones in back have." Eely'ot chimed in, with worry creeping into his voice.

Kyan considered the situation. If they were after anyone, it was him. And of course the rest of the team"¦ if they were even here. And if these people were chasing them"¦ and had weapons, then it confirmed his fear that they hadn't taken Galloway's message as intended. Or it didn't translate. Either way it was bad.  "œCan we outrun them?" he asked after a moment. Mikel shook his head. Kyan looked back. They were still a decent distance in front of them. But that wouldn't last. He had to think quickly.

"œOk." Kyan paused, letting the rest of the plan materialize. When it did, he continued. "œPull over and stop on the side of the road. If they pass by, then we can go head. But if they don't, then we'll know that they're chasing us. He turned to Eely'ot and G'erti. "œYou two duck down as far as ye can. If I hafta fight I dinnae want you ta be hurt.

"œFight!?" Mikel sputtered. "œThere's six of them at least."

Kyan shrugged. "œSo I'll just stun them all with me phaser"¦ and then we can be off again. No worries." Then he thought of a better idea. "œActually"¦ pull over an stop, but be ready tae take off again when I tell ye"¦"

"œOk." Mikel replied, his word dripping with reservation.

Mikel slowed and eased the vehicle onto the side of the road and stopped. Moments later the other vehicle did the same, but stopped fifty meters behind them. The passengers all got out, or off and stood beside it. From this distance Kyan could see that they all had rifle-like weapons. One spoke up, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"œWe know you children are harboring an alien. Turn him over now so he can't hurt anyone."

Kyan sighed. That was the last thing he'd hoped to hear. The very last thing. He took off his mask and drew the hand phaser on his hip. He made sure it was set to heavy stun before turning to the others. "œOk." He began. "œYou two duck like I tole ye, and Mikel, be ready to get out of here."

After his instructions were followed, Kyan lowered the window and leaned out, waving at their pursuers with a smile. "œHey! Merry Met you lot! I'm Kyan." Then he produced the phaser, which caused the cluster of Landsers to step back. When they did, he leveled his weapon at their vehicle and fired at the front wheels, one at a time. When they popped, Kyan waved again. "œGood tae meet ye! Yer planet if beautiful so it is!." Then he disappeared back inside only to pop out again for an instant. "And I'll pay fer yer wheels tae get fixed! I promise!" Then he ducked back in.

"œOK Mikel. GO!"

Shouts and shots rang out as some of them fired a few shots at their vehicle as Mikel stomped the accelerator down, kicking up a cloud of rocks and dust as they made their escape.

[Ian Galloway]

[Turboshaft]

As the Lieutenant came hurtling down the shaft, the Ensign who had called out let out a noise that could only be described as a terrified squeak as she tried to "get skinny" on the ladder, even though it would have no bearing if the collision of bodies had occurred. As Alex screeched to a halt, the medical team scrambled and clamored to find purchase somewhere other than the ladder, be it a tiny bit of exposed pipe or a maintenance toehold. However, this momentary terror didn't last long. In a few short moments, the conflict had been cleared and they were no longer at risk of playing the royal game of physics or finding out how many seconds it took to fall to the bottom of the turboshaft. It was currently a small miracle that nobody had tried to get the turbolifts working - and run the risk of turning the medical crew into a pancake to be mopped up by some deckhand. Policies and procedures were very clear on such matters, and to not bring the lifts into service without proper clearance, but since when were regulations ever truly followed?

As the Lieutenant relayed the crew's condition above and the steps needed to bring their technology back online, the team who had been paralyzed for a moment became a flurry of activity, as circuits were opened, removed, inserted, closed, and checked. The echoing nose, chirps, beeps, and whines of technology once again filled the space as the medical crew quickly performed a once-over of their equipment, with noises of celebration joining the din. "Thanks for the update, happy hunting sir!" called out the Ensign from earlier, letting the crew heading down pass by.

Of the four-man crew, a runner was dispatched to Sickbay to pass along the update as to how they could get their technology working again. Now down to three, the crew included a Bolian nurse, Abas, and the Human Ensign leading the party scrambling their way back up to the bridge.

As the crew arrived on the bridge, they paused for a moment to catch their breath before looking up. "Medical here, Captain! Ensign Meshin, reporting. How can we assist?" she asked, as the small three-person team attempted to quickly take stock of the situation and render assistance as needed.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When the medical team arrived on the bridge, for a moment, it looked as if no one was conscious. As all that could be seen were legs sticking out from consoles, but before the team could rush forward to perform triage, Ian poked his head up from under the helm.

"Ah, good. Mister Espada is still out and I'm fair certain Mister Booker thunked her head when she fell. The rest of us are well enough and up ta our armpits trying to reboot the bridge systems."

Ian then ducked back under the helm to return to the repairs.

[Abas Th'vyrrol]

[Turboshaft]

"œYou'd better not," Ardy  smirked  as she clambered down the rungs of the ladder behind Alex, keeping well in pace with him until he slid down, almost fireman-style. landing rather suddenly in front of the medical team. "œIs everyone  alright down there?"   She was trying to catch up as fast as she could while also not slipping and falling herself, causing even more chaos to the already tight quarters.

As Alex gave the sitrep on the bridge, she nodded to the medical folks passing by. "œDunno if you've figured, but there might be something affecting the mind in whatever hit us." she mentioned as a bit of an afterthought.  She wasn't sure if it would help, but maybe it would.  She definitely wasn't looking forward to that point in time when physicals had to be done. How much could these docs be bribed to not call for a physical?.

They had to part ways for a bit now, as she had to head to the thruster controls "œBe back in a bit. Try not to crash into other things." she smirked, giving him a hard time.

[Turboshaft]

The team acknowledged the additional report. The more data points they could come up with, the more likely they could record, document, and diagnose the issue. Abas in particular frowned with the new information. It appeared it wasn't just the telepathically active species which felt the onslaught.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When the medical team arrived on the bridge, for a moment, it looked as if no one was conscious. As all that could be seen were legs sticking out from consoles, but before the team could rush forward to perform triage, Ian poked his head up from under the helm.

"Ah, good. Mister Espada is still out and I'm fair certain Mister Booker thunked her head when she fell. The rest of us are well enough and up ta our armpits trying to reboot the bridge systems."

Ian then ducked back under the helm to return to the repairs.

[Bridge]

As the three-person team began to survey the surroundings, the voice of their Captain filtered through to them, strangely fixated on the Helm console. The bridge appeared to be in disarray, much like the rest of the ship, with panels and bulkheads torn asunder and only half the bridge actually showing signs of life.

"Aye sir!" came the response from the team, as Abas peeled off to care for Mr. Booker and the Ensign went to care for Mr. Espada. The remaining member of the team went about finding ways to be useful - checking on the others and then joining in with the slapdash repair job that was being set up. Of course, none of this care would excuse the officer from their next regular physical. At least, not without sufficient reason.

But for now, all hands were on deck to fix the ship, and the crew were part of that task.

[Alexander Wu]

[Deck 9]

Even in the middle of a life-or-death scenario, Ardy couldn't help but feel like she lucked out as they tried to narrow down which chips it was with his help. Turns out, she was looking at the wrong panel entirely. Figures. She was a pilot, not a computer specialist, after all.  "œI'm good. Thanks though." she gave a quick squeeze of his hand.

There were just so many chips, but narrowing it down, they worked quickly through the potential ones.  "œI certainly hope this system's the one that works since there's way too many chips to test -"

Ardy's train of thought was interrupted when after resetting yet another chip,  the ship suddenly came to life, thrusters punching in and running,  jolting her hard enough that she fell to the ground. "œI think it works," she said, giving a deadpan grin.

[USS Challenger - Deck 9 - RCS Thruster Control]

When the dorsal thrusters kicked on without warning, Alex felt suddenly lighter on his feet, a disorienting moment of partial weightlessness as his question about the inertial dampeners answered itself. Before his stomach contents entirely reverted back the way it'd gone down, gravity corrected itself and he found himself landing awkwardly, successfully avoiding stepping on Ardyn but at the expense of tumbling to the deck practically ontop of her. Wincing from a sharp stabbing pain in his right knee which had struck the hard deck plating, Alex slowly got back up before gingerly putting weight on the leg, testing to see if it would feel better or worse. Nothing felt broken or dislocated, thankfully. "I'm getting too old for this." He remarked wearily, reaching down to help her up. "Ships falling to pieces around us, not the rolling around the floor with you." Alex teasingly clarified.

His knee still feeling uncomfortably tender, Alex continued working on tediously replacing the chips in the last few control panels, taking care not to miss any rows. He couldn't imagine how much of a pain it'd be to track down a missed malfunctioning chip with the hundreds they'd already gone through. "I think there are computer cores on this level as well, but, and I'm being selfish here, I don't think I can stand dealing with that right now. I actually don't think I can physically stand for that long either." He added, grimacing while leaning against the bulkhead. "Once we're finished with all this, should we head back up to the bridge? I'm also concerned about that away team stranded on the surface, if the shuttles onboard are in the same state, we have no way of going to get them."

[Jalen Kartos]

[Sickbay | Deck 7 | USS Challenger: Less than an hour after the meeting in the Conference Room]

Jalen had just made it back to sickbay after the briefing with the Captain and was sitting in his office going over the personnel files for the new assignees to sickbay, when a new wave of vertigo overwhelmed him, he reached for his commbadge but missed it several times as his vision doubled and his motor skills dropped way down from normal. He braced himself on the desk and tried to stand, and barely leveraged himself out of his seat. After a few moments he thought himself steadied enough to walk, and he made his way towards the door of his office, lurching from foot to foot, like a monster in an old earth movie. He made it to the door and literally fell through the opening, he handed hard on the floor halfway in and out of his office, his Jumja suckers pilling about him.

*****

Lieutenant Davies had been making her way towards the CMO's office to make a report when she saw the doors open and a positively cadaverous Dr. Kartos fell through the door landing hard upon the ground. She rushed to his side and pulled out her tricorder, his neurological scans were varying wildly. Davies called for orderlies and they got the senior physician up and transported him to the Private Biobed adjacent to the CMO's office. Davies then called for Dr. Rasher.

*****

Rasher acknowledged the emergency page and made his way quickly to the CMO's office and found Dr. Kartos unconscious but reasonably stable on the biobed.

"œNurse Davies, what happened?" He asked with concern as he made his way to the side of the bed and began calling up readings on the built in display.

"œI have no idea, I was on my way to his office when I found him collapsing through the doorway. I just got him up on the bed a few minutes before your arrival. At the moment he seems stable enough, but I don't know what happened." The Nurse explained to the young physician. Dr. Rasher frowned down at the readouts, they were strange, but also clear.

"œWell, it doesn't seem to be any kind of infectious agent. So that's a relief, but these neural readings are troubling. They are outside the normal ranges for El-Aurian neural patterns, in fact the areas of his brain that sense space-time distortions are off the charts. This obviously has to do with the distortions that are being caused by the propulsion experiments of the planet we are headed to. My guess would be that Dr. Kartos is just extremely sensitive to the frequency of those disturbances. At the moment it would be best to keep him sedated, while I get a team together to work on some kind of suppressant, as levels this high could leave permanent damage. Nurse get me 50ccs of"¦"

*****
After Dr. Rasher got Dr. Kartos' levels down to a manageable level he would submit a report to the XO about Kartos' condition and that he would likely be out till the current situation is resolved.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Land - Unknown Small Town]

Zhuk found that with the locals glued to their viewscreens, he was able to procure bandages and other items to treat his wrist and walk out the store undetected. He found an alley and started wrapping his wrist which proved to be a far more difficult task than obtaining the supplies.

He was disturbed that the Challenger was so plainly visible to the locals as that was not the plan. He'd only heard a small portion of what the Landsers had said as they watched their viewscreens as he discovered his universal translator was taking a long time to decipher the local language. Most of the words were lost to him, but he did pick up. "Amazing" and "strangers".

As he finished wrapping his wrist, he found himself wondering what to do next. He hadn't tried to use his tricorder or combadge since arriving and was now torn over whether he should try to use either one now.

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Secluded Alleyway --> Unknown Small Town Street | Land | L7-425977 System]

Zhukdra'shar sighed in relief as he properly donned his isolation suit again. Having had to remove it momentarily to apply the bandages and ointment, he was tense at fearing being discovered, either by missing a camera, or by having passersby wander by. Fortunately, none of this had happened, so his orange fur and uniform were still undetected. He wished he could say the same about the Challenger, however. It was not a good situation, overall, and he wondered what to do now. He glanced at his wrist, now covered under the suit, the pang of guilt that bothered him slowly disappearing as his injury felt much better.

He supposed that the correct step was to find the rest of his landing team, as well as further investigate the customs of the planet. Perhaps, attempting to make contact if worst came to worst was not a bad plan, either.

"This is Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas. Away team. Do you read?"

He waited for a few minutes, but he heard no response. Deciding against trying again, he activated the stealth of his suit once more. It took him a moment to will himself back up, but eventually, he wandered out into the street. He almost stumbled into a Landser little girl who was using the equivalent of a skateboard, with only one wheel. She remained oblivious to her presence due to the music she was hearing, however, and his nigh invisibility.

Another sigh escaped his muzzle, as he began to walk around the quaint town.

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|Landser Planet]

Neva looked at Dr. Jettis and shrugged. 'Guess its time to go where we haven't before, huh?'

Neva smiled bravely and stepped onto the path, Tricorder in hand and scanning. Pointing, she spoke aloud for once and smirked. "Lifeforms Ho!"

[5km down road, just off town square]

The young Betazoid watched with wide eyes as houses and other buildings became more plentiful as the two Starfleet officers walked along. Neva had been walking ahead of the doctor, her Tricorder still in her hands. Unfortunately, she paid less and less attention to it. She was gawking around so much, she forgot she wasn't supposed to be seen...

Wgmek! n'zrd! A woman screeched as she was walking to a vehicle. She was pointing in their direction and bouncing.

Neva froze in disbelief. She felt the fear and shock buffet her like she'd hit a wall. Before Neva could bring herself to move, others clambered out of the nearby building with weapons of some sort. It didn't take a scientist to know they were screwed, especially when more people came out from nearby brandishing similar implements of destruction.

''Um...so much for stealth?'' Neva uttered apologetically, biting her lower lip as she looked at Jettis.

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Near Town Square of Unknown Small Town | Land | L7-425977 System]

By art of magic, Zhukdra'shar heard a commotion as he approached what he thought was the town center. As he investigated further, he noticed that a group of Landsers were surrounding none other than Jettis and Neva. Bile and anger rose through his body in quick order, both at the situation, and also at his teammate's actions. They had been extremely foolish to allow themselves to be seen like this! The suits were nowhere to be seen, and now they were in an awful situation. And what was worse, they were forcing Zhuk to do something he truly did not want to do.

They would get certainly reprimanded later. By him, at least.

But first, he would have to save them.

He stopped himself as he stealthily walked towards an unaware Landser woman who was trying to open her car, having drawn out his phaser. He knew things could get bad, and real quickly if he did not act now. However, he also knew that if he applied violence like he had been taught to by the Romulans, he would only receive it in return. At least in theory. So perhaps, it was time for a show, instead.

In front of the crowd that was attempting to corner Jettis and Neva, cornering with rifles and blunt instruments, a ghastly figure suddenly appeared, materializing upon them. Everyone took a step back, as a hand was extended forward, and he then proceeded to remove the helmet of his suit. Probably not the best of ideas, but he at least had to show them he was not a faceless invader. That he was, while not a Landser, a living, breathing being.

"Greetings and salutations, esteemed individuals of this town. I am Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas," He offered a big bow forward, placing his helmet against his side, holding it with his right arm. Then, he slowly moved upwards, not wanting to spook the already troubled folk, "While I am certain that you cannot understand me, let it be known that we mean no harm. Either me or my companions,"

He motioned toward Jettis and Neva, offering a smile to the populace as he then placed his hand against his chest. Wincing slightly, he hid it the best he could. The Caitian stood still for a moment, wondering how he could show himself as peaceful. He decided to kneel before them, and lightly bow his head in submission soon afterwards,

"Please, sheath your weapons. We do not intend to harm thee."

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Deck 9]

Ardy expected the jolt when the thrusters came back online.  She wasn't fully expecting Alex to land right on top of her as a result of said jolt.  "You're not wrong on both of those fronts, but, that's what got us into this together  to start with." she  nudged him  playfully, as she helped him up, noticing the wince he gave as he put some weight on it. "œYou okay there? That looks  like it hurts. "œ

Thinking about all the remaining chips that they'd all eventually have to replug in, she nodded. That was not something she'd rather have to do right now either. "œI agree. We can work on plugging stuff in once the ship and  away team is not actively in danger."

Speaking of the away team,  They would have to have a shuttle back there, and if the shuttles  were just as fried as the rest  of the ship"¦. Oof.  "œYou've got a point. Let's go back up. "   She offered her arm to balance him so he didn't have to walk on  his injury.  "œ Shuttles tend to be less complicated than the whole ship, so if we  have to get one started, it should be a lot faster than this."

[Ian Galloway]

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|Landser Planet]

Neva looked at Dr. Jettis and shrugged. 'Guess its time to go where we haven't before, huh?'

Neva smiled bravely and stepped onto the path, Tricorder in hand and scanning. Pointing, she spoke aloud for once and smirked. "Lifeforms Ho!"

[5km down road, just off town square]

The young Betazoid watched with wide eyes as houses and other buildings became more plentiful as the two Starfleet officers walked along. Neva had been walking ahead of the doctor, her Tricorder still in her hands. Unfortunately, she paid less and less attention to it. She was gawking around so much, she forgot she wasn't supposed to be seen...

Wgmek! n'zrd! A woman screeched as she was walking to a vehicle. She was pointing in their direction and bouncing.

Neva froze in disbelief. She felt the fear and shock buffet her like she'd hit a wall. Before Neva could bring herself to move, others clambered out of the nearby building with weapons of some sort. It didn't take a scientist to know they were screwed, especially when more people came out from nearby brandishing similar implements of destruction.

''Um...so much for stealth?'' Neva uttered apologetically, biting her lower lip as she looked at Jettis.

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Secluded Alleyway --> Unknown Small Town Street | Land | L7-425977 System]

Zhukdra'shar sighed in relief as he properly donned his isolation suit again. Having had to remove it momentarily to apply the bandages and ointment, he was tense at fearing being discovered, either by missing a camera, or by having passersby wander by. Fortunately, none of this had happened, so his orange fur and uniform were still undetected. He wished he could say the same about the Challenger, however. It was not a good situation, overall, and he wondered what to do now. He glanced at his wrist, now covered under the suit, the pang of guilt that bothered him slowly disappearing as his injury felt much better.

He supposed that the correct step was to find the rest of his landing team, as well as further investigate the customs of the planet. Perhaps, attempting to make contact if worst came to worst was not a bad plan, either.

"This is Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas. Away team. Do you read?"

He waited for a few minutes, but he heard no response. Deciding against trying again, he activated the stealth of his suit once more. It took him a moment to will himself back up, but eventually, he wandered out into the street. He almost stumbled into a Landser little girl who was using the equivalent of a skateboard, with only one wheel. She remained oblivious to her presence due to the music she was hearing, however, and his nigh invisibility.

Another sigh escaped his muzzle, as he began to walk around the quaint town.

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Near Town Square of Unknown Small Town | Land | L7-425977 System]

By art of magic, Zhukdra'shar heard a commotion as he approached what he thought was the town center. As he investigated further, he noticed that a group of Landsers were surrounding none other than Jettis and Neva. Bile and anger rose through his body in quick order, both at the situation, and also at his teammate's actions. They had been extremely foolish to allow themselves to be seen like this! The suits were nowhere to be seen, and now they were in an awful situation. And what was worse, they were forcing Zhuk to do something he truly did not want to do.

They would get certainly reprimanded later. By him, at least.

But first, he would have to save them.

He stopped himself as he stealthily walked towards an unaware Landser woman who was trying to open her car, having drawn out his phaser. He knew things could get bad, and real quickly if he did not act now. However, he also knew that if he applied violence like he had been taught to by the Romulans, he would only receive it in return. At least in theory. So perhaps, it was time for a show, instead.

In front of the crowd that was attempting to corner Jettis and Neva, cornering with rifles and blunt instruments, a ghastly figure suddenly appeared, materializing upon them. Everyone took a step back, as a hand was extended forward, and he then proceeded to remove the helmet of his suit. Probably not the best of ideas, but he at least had to show them he was not a faceless invader. That he was, while not a Landser, a living, breathing being.

"Greetings and salutations, esteemed individuals of this town. I am Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas," He offered a big bow forward, placing his helmet against his side, holding it with his right arm. Then, he slowly moved upwards, not wanting to spook the already troubled folk, "While I am certain that you cannot understand me, let it be known that we mean no harm. Either me or my companions,"

He motioned toward Jettis and Neva, offering a smile to the populace as he then placed his hand against his chest. Wincing slightly, he hid it the best he could. The Caitian stood still for a moment, wondering how he could show himself as peaceful. He decided to kneel before them, and lightly bow his head in submission soon afterwards,

"Please, sheath your weapons. We do not intend to harm thee."

[Land - Near Town Square]

The advancing figures closed quickly shouting, but the universal translator was only making every third word understandable.

"Heem the conveyance drakma!"

Jettis pushed Neva behind him and shouted.

RUN!"

However, before Neva could, Zhuk unmasked and challenged the crowd. The appearance of a cat-thing in front of them brought the mob up short. The vehicle skewed to a halt and there was a lull for a moment, until one particularly bright spark in the mob unfroze and shout.

"Gar laktra fee!"

This broke the spell and shots began to break out. Fortunately, the locals weren't skilled and no one was hit. However, while they may have been lacking in skill, they made up for it in volume and the away team had to take whatever cover they could find.

Jettis repeated his order to run and began firing as fast as his phaser would cycle. This drew the local's ire and weapons fire toward him, leaving him cut off from Zhuk and Neva. The Landsers were certainly a brave species and closed in on Jettis despite the efforts of Zhuk and Neva to create an escape route. Jettis looked at the others and shouted again.

RUN!"

Torn by duty and loyalty, the pair hesitated. Then the crowd swarmed Jettis which forced Zhuk's and Neva's hand. The last they saw of him before they ducked around a corner was Jettis in hand to hand combat and surrounded on all sides.

Running for their lives, they heard a vehicle closing in on them and as they made their decision to turn and fight, they spotted Kyan waving wildly for them to get in, which they did. As soon as they were aboard, the vehicle, driven by a Landser adolescent sped away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The ship was still far from recovered from the temporal pulse, but it was slowly coming back to life. Warp and weapons were still out, but life support, shields, communications, along with the impulse engines were fully functional. The main computer had rebooted, but with only about half of the memory storage reset, it was very slow in its response times. Ian's announcement had resulted in several radio signals being beamed at the ship and Lieutenant Booker, now recovered thanks to the medical team's arrival was fielding the messages as fast as the slowed computer could translate them.

It was maddening to Ian that universal translator was so slow in making the Landser language understandable, especially when it was so needed. It was clear that his initial broadcast was not fully understood and it was also abundantly clear he was going to have to make another announcement. However, before he could, Lieutenant Randall spoke up.

"Sir, we have an immanent problem."

"I hadn't noticed Lieutenant." He sighed. "I'm sorry Evan, that was uncalled for. What's gone wrong now?"

"When sensors came back online, I scanned for the Landser fold space probe. As I mentioned it jumped four light years in four seconds. A truly remarkable breakthrough in supraliminal travel. Unfortunately, it looks like the thing, which is fully automated, is getting ready to return to the Landser system."

"Sweet Merciful Maker!" Ian exclaimed. "That mean's another temporal pulse. We're nae ta be survivin' another in the state we're in now. How long do we have?"

"The probe seems to have been given the task of scanning the area of space it jumped to, as they only have simple lightspeed sensors, it will take the probe about an hour to complete that task, then it will fold space back here."

"So we have less than an hour ta figure out a way ta configure our defenses ta resist that bloody temporal pulse. Evan, drop everything else, this is your number one priority."

Ian then addressed the rest of bridge crew.

"If'n any of you have any boffin ideas, now would be the time to bring them up."

[Neva Cordon]

[Land - Near Town Square]

The advancing figures closed quickly shouting, but the universal translator was only making every third word understandable.

"Heem the conveyance drakma!"

Jettis pushed Neva behind him and shouted.

RUN!"

However, before Neva could, Zhuk unmasked and challenged the crowd. The appearance of a cat-thing in front of them brought the mob up short. The vehicle skewed to a halt and there was a lull for a moment, until one particularly bright spark in the mob unfroze and shout.

"Gar laktra fee!"

This broke the spell and shots began to break out. Fortunately, the locals weren't skilled and no one was hit. However, while they may have been lacking in skill, they made up for it in volume and the away team had to take whatever cover they could find.

Jettis repeated his order to run and began firing as fast as his phaser would cycle. This drew the local's ire and weapons fire toward him, leaving him cut off from Zhuk and Neva. The Landsers were certainly a brave species and closed in on Jettis despite the efforts of Zhuk and Neva to create an escape route. Jettis looked at the others and shouted again.

RUN!"

Torn by duty and loyalty, the pair hesitated. Then the crowd swarmed Jettis which forced Zhuk's and Neva's hand. The last they saw of him before they ducked around a corner was Jettis in hand to hand combat and surrounded on all sides.

Running for their lives, they heard a vehicle closing in on them and as they made their decision to turn and fight, they spotted Kyan waving wildly for them to get in, which they did. As soon as they were aboard, the vehicle, driven by a Landser adolescent sped away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|Landser Planet|Some Kid's Vehicle]

Neva tried to catch her breath, trying to fathom all that had happened. She hated to leave Jettis behind, but there was really no helping him. Turning to Kyan, she asked "Well, Commander, what now? Is there any way we can contact the Challenger? I'm sure I can rig something together to do so if we can find a place to get the parts I need." She gave a hopeful grin.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The ship was still far from recovered from the temporal pulse, but it was slowly coming back to life. Warp and weapons were still out, but life support, shields, communications, along with the impulse engines were fully functional. The main computer had rebooted, but with only about half of the memory storage reset, it was very slow in its response times. Ian's announcement had resulted in several radio signals being beamed at the ship and Lieutenant Booker, now recovered thanks to the medical team's arrival was fielding the messages as fast as the slowed computer could translate them.

It was maddening to Ian that universal translator was so slow in making the Landser language understandable, especially when it was so needed. It was clear that his initial broadcast was not fully understood and it was also abundantly clear he was going to have to make another announcement. However, before he could, Lieutenant Randall spoke up.

"Sir, we have an immanent problem."

"I hadn't noticed Lieutenant." He sighed. "I'm sorry Evan, that was uncalled for. What's gone wrong now?"

"When sensors came back online, I scanned for the Landser fold space probe. As I mentioned it jumped four light years in four seconds. A truly remarkable breakthrough in supraliminal travel. Unfortunately, it looks like the thing, which is fully automated, is getting ready to return to the Landser system."

"Sweet Merciful Maker!" Ian exclaimed. "That mean's another temporal pulse. We're nae ta be survivin' another in the state we're in now. How long do we have?"

"The probe seems to have been given the task of scanning the area of space it jumped to, as they only have simple lightspeed sensors, it will take the probe about an hour to complete that task, then it will fold space back here."

"So we have less than an hour ta figure out a way ta configure our defenses ta resist that bloody temporal pulse. Evan, drop everything else, this is your number one priority."

Ian then addressed the rest of bridge crew.

"If'n any of you have any boffin ideas, now would be the time to bring them up."

[Alexander Wu]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The ship was still far from recovered from the temporal pulse, but it was slowly coming back to life. Warp and weapons were still out, but life support, shields, communications, along with the impulse engines were fully functional. The main computer had rebooted, but with only about half of the memory storage reset, it was very slow in its response times. Ian's announcement had resulted in several radio signals being beamed at the ship and Lieutenant Booker, now recovered thanks to the medical team's arrival was fielding the messages as fast as the slowed computer could translate them.

It was maddening to Ian that universal translator was so slow in making the Landser language understandable, especially when it was so needed. It was clear that his initial broadcast was not fully understood and it was also abundantly clear he was going to have to make another announcement. However, before he could, Lieutenant Randall spoke up.

"Sir, we have an immanent problem."

"I hadn't noticed Lieutenant." He sighed. "I'm sorry Evan, that was uncalled for. What's gone wrong now?"

"When sensors came back online, I scanned for the Landser fold space probe. As I mentioned it jumped four light years in four seconds. A truly remarkable breakthrough in supraliminal travel. Unfortunately, it looks like the thing, which is fully automated, is getting ready to return to the Landser system."

"Sweet Merciful Maker!" Ian exclaimed. "That mean's another temporal pulse. We're nae ta be survivin' another in the state we're in now. How long do we have?"

"The probe seems to have been given the task of scanning the area of space it jumped to, as they only have simple lightspeed sensors, it will take the probe about an hour to complete that task, then it will fold space back here."

"So we have less than an hour ta figure out a way ta configure our defenses ta resist that bloody temporal pulse. Evan, drop everything else, this is your number one priority."

Ian then addressed the rest of bridge crew.

"If'n any of you have any boffin ideas, now would be the time to bring them up."

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

It had been very gratifying to see the turbolifts working again by the time they left Deck 9, Alex having hobbled along primarily with Ardyn's support. While she'd gone to make sure there were people assigned to getting one of the shuttles back work, he'd made a pitstop in Sickbay before going to join her. There were some of those with much more serious injuries, and with most of the biobeds and scanners offline, Doctor Rashar wasn't able to diagnose him with anything more specific than a knee injury using only his tricorder. Still, after being fitted for a supportive brace and a top-up on some very effective pain medication, Alex was able to limp out on his own accord, and only a dull distracting throb reminding him to refrain from performing acrobatics.

Having arrived at the shuttlebay just in time to see Ardyn walking out of the Challenger's Delta Flyer, a carbon copy of Ardy's called the Mjolnir, they made their way back to the bridge, arriving just in time to hear the tail end of Randall's report, and Galloway's plea for a solution. Alex wracked his brain, trying to think of some way to prevent another temporal shift. In all honesty, it had been years since he'd had to come up with any technical ideas, even moreso since their lives depended on it. His last major decision revolved around whether they should invest in more canoes or venture into hoverbike rentals. Pivoting to temporal mechanics was a tall order, even moreso since he had never really been interested in that subject to begin with.

"What about chronitons?" Alex finally brought forward a vague solution, digging it up from the bottom of a dusty mental chest. "Chroniton fields. The Borg used them for protection against temporal stresses from transwarp conduits. There was a theoretical flight research project about how we might be able to utilize the same conduits, but obviously it couldn't be tried because the Borg would never have permitted it." He continued developing the idea outloud, hoping someone with more expertise in the subject would step in to make it plausible. "If we could generate a chroniton field ourselves, even for only a few seconds around Challenger, maybe it would protect us from the temporal pulse until we can destroy that probe."

[Ian Galloway]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

It had been very gratifying to see the turbolifts working again by the time they left Deck 9, Alex having hobbled along primarily with Ardyn's support. While she'd gone to make sure there were people assigned to getting one of the shuttles back work, he'd made a pitstop in Sickbay before going to join her. There were some of those with much more serious injuries, and with most of the biobeds and scanners offline, Doctor Rashar wasn't able to diagnose him with anything more specific than a knee injury using only his tricorder. Still, after being fitted for a supportive brace and a top-up on some very effective pain medication, Alex was able to limp out on his own accord, and only a dull distracting throb reminding him to refrain from performing acrobatics.

Having arrived at the shuttlebay just in time to see Ardyn walking out of the Challenger's Delta Flyer, a carbon copy of Ardy's called the Mjolnir, they made their way back to the bridge, arriving just in time to hear the tail end of Randall's report, and Galloway's plea for a solution. Alex wracked his brain, trying to think of some way to prevent another temporal shift. In all honesty, it had been years since he'd had to come up with any technical ideas, even moreso since their lives depended on it. His last major decision revolved around whether they should invest in more canoes or venture into hoverbike rentals. Pivoting to temporal mechanics was a tall order, even moreso since he had never really been interested in that subject to begin with.

"What about chronitons?" Alex finally brought forward a vague solution, digging it up from the bottom of a dusty mental chest. "Chroniton fields. The Borg used them for protection against temporal stresses from transwarp conduits. There was a theoretical flight research project about how we might be able to utilize the same conduits, but obviously it couldn't be tried because the Borg would never have permitted it." He continued developing the idea outloud, hoping someone with more expertise in the subject would step in to make it plausible. "If we could generate a chroniton field ourselves, even for only a few seconds around Challenger, maybe it would protect us from the temporal pulse until we can destroy that probe."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian listened to Wu's suggestion and from what he knew of temporal mechanics, chronitons had temporal properties, but unless they were polarized, they were mostly passive.

"Well, it just so happens, we nae ta be needin' ta generate them, we've an abundance of chronitons in our ablative armor. We've been on extended patrol long enough ta have accumulated plenty as we've nae have dock time ta sweep the bloody things. Question is, how ta access them?"

"I believe I have an answer for that Sir." Randall said. "We configure the deflector dish to emit tetryons. They will draw out the chronitons and polarize them."

"Won't they just drift away?"

"Not if we raise the shields, the polarized chronitons will remain trapped in a bubble between the hull and the shields."

Ian smiled for the first time since Randall reported on the danger of a second temporal pulse.

"Do it. All bloody hands and the ship's cook are yours Mister Randall. Make this happen. But make sure'n ta tune the shields ta nae block radio frequencies, if'n we disappear ta the Landsers, they may misunderstand our intentions."

Ian then turned to face Wu.

"Lieutenant, if'n this works, it will be a bottle of my personal stash of single malt for ye. Brilliant thinkin', you sure you're nae a boffin in Ops clothin'?"

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian listened to Wu's suggestion and from what he knew of temporal mechanics, chronitons had temporal properties, but unless they were polarized, they were mostly passive.

"Well, it just so happens, we nae ta be needin' ta generate them, we've an abundance of chronitons in our ablative armor. We've been on extended patrol long enough ta have accumulated plenty as we've nae have dock time ta sweep the bloody things. Question is, how ta access them?"

"I believe I have an answer for that Sir." Randall said. "We configure the deflector dish to emit tetryons. They will draw out the chronitons and polarize them."

"Won't they just drift away?"

"Not if we raise the shields, the polarized chronitons will remain trapped in a bubble between the hull and the shields."

Ian smiled for the first time since Randall reported on the danger of a second temporal pulse.

"Do it. All bloody hands and the ship's cook are yours Mister Randall. Make this happen. But make sure'n ta tune the shields ta nae block radio frequencies, if'n we disappear ta the Landsers, they may misunderstand our intentions."

Ian then turned to face Wu.

"Lieutenant, if'n this works, it will be a bottle of my personal stash of single malt for ye. Brilliant thinkin', you sure you're nae a boffin in Ops clothin'?"

[Shuttlebay â†' bridge]

The Flyer that the  Challenger had was better off than she had anticipated, considering it too had been put on the fritz by the blast. But at least she was a bit more familiar with those systems than most, so that took less time. She had left  Ensign Schlemann to make final preparations on the Flyer before launch before she had headed back to the Bridge to report her progress.

Coming back, she caught the tail end of the discussion about Chronitons. She was in no way fluent in that, but it did seem plausible enough. "œI've got the  Flyer up and running and just about as flight-ready as we can be so we can pick up the away team before the Landsers can hit us again, Sir. "œ

[Tora Zalos]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 7 - Sickbay]

Lahr had gotten nearly a dozen of the Biobeds up and working when he first noticed the pair of cadets (who had he left down on deck 15)  come in with the Cardassian science officer that had been unconscious in Stellar cartography.  Oh roozh! Had she not woken up yet!?   He realized belatedly he probably should have told someone in medical that she was down there.  Oops.

Because all other beds were filled, the Cardassian woman was placed onto the last available spot - the dreaded 'haunted' biobed.. or Biobed 13 as Lahr called it.  Even when the ship had no power issues, this biobed only worked part of the time despite being constantly checked over by engineers.

Because Lahr had left that bed for last, Chloe had to do her initial assessment of the Cardassian with only a medical tricorder.  The head nurse marked the Cardassian patient as a yellow (delayed treatment for non-life threatening injuries),  put her in queue for treatment and called on one of the enlisted medics to keep an eye on the woman, with instructions to inform her if her condition changed.

That had been 5 minutes ago, and the medic had been called away by one of the doctors.  Lahr had finished working on Biobed Twelve and all that was left was the haunted biobed on which Tora lay.

Not to be rude, Lahr talked to the unconscious woman as he started his work.   "Don't mind me Ensign, I'm just here to fix the Biobed you are on.   I just need to pop open the panel on the side here." Pop.  Arrayed in front of him was a tray of at least 200 chips to be pulled.  "And you see all these chips... they need to be reset by pulling them out and poppin' them back it.  It's kinda like a hard reboot." He explained as he began the long tedious process.   At this rate, he'd be needing treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome - with all the repetitive moment he'd been doing lately.

Then the Ensign lying on the bed, suddenly moved and tried to talk.  Lahr paused his work and stood up, ready to prevent her from sitting up if needed.

"Whoa whoa.  Just stay still. You're in Sickbay.  I think you hit your head when you collapsed. Lemme call one of the staff."   Lahr stayed by Tora's bedside while he looked about for someone not already treating someone.  But everyone looked kinda busy, so he opted to press the 'CALL' button on biobed... only to recall in a facepalm moment.. that he hadn't yet fixed the biobed.

So instead, Lahr pursed his lips and gave a shrill whistle.  Several people glanced his way.  Lahr gave a slight wave.  "Um, she just woke up. he said pointing to Tora.

[Ensign Tora Zalos | Sickbay | Deck 7 | USS Challenger]

"Hgh. Wh- What happened to me?" Tora's hand drifted to her nose. Yep, definitely still there and still the correct shape. It seemed. And hopefully unbroken. Now that'd have sucked. Had she fallen on her face? Was that why her face smarted? Wow, such coherent thoughts!

"Chhh- Chief? Uhhh. Did- did something hit us?" She burbled, fighting through the thick mental fog that seemed to have settled over her brain to form coherent thought. "Hy- Hyperion? How is he? Is he alright...?" She whispered. "And... uhhh. Water. Please?" Her throat felt parched. It probably was, to be honest. Ugh. She was grateful for the glass of water that someone in turquoise placed in her hand. She made a valiant attempt to sit up, which only resulted in her spilling half the glass. Whoops.

[Alexander Wu]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian listened to Wu's suggestion and from what he knew of temporal mechanics, chronitons had temporal properties, but unless they were polarized, they were mostly passive.

"Well, it just so happens, we nae ta be needin' ta generate them, we've an abundance of chronitons in our ablative armor. We've been on extended patrol long enough ta have accumulated plenty as we've nae have dock time ta sweep the bloody things. Question is, how ta access them?"

"I believe I have an answer for that Sir." Randall said. "We configure the deflector dish to emit tetryons. They will draw out the chronitons and polarize them."

"Won't they just drift away?"

"Not if we raise the shields, the polarized chronitons will remain trapped in a bubble between the hull and the shields."

Ian smiled for the first time since Randall reported on the danger of a second temporal pulse.

"Do it. All bloody hands and the ship's cook are yours Mister Randall. Make this happen. But make sure'n ta tune the shields ta nae block radio frequencies, if'n we disappear ta the Landsers, they may misunderstand our intentions."

Ian then turned to face Wu.

"Lieutenant, if'n this works, it will be a bottle of my personal stash of single malt for ye. Brilliant thinkin', you sure you're nae a boffin in Ops clothin'?"

[Shuttlebay â†' bridge]

The Flyer that the  Challenger had was better off than she had anticipated, considering it too had been put on the fritz by the blast. But at least she was a bit more familiar with those systems than most, so that took less time. She had left  Ensign Schlemann to make final preparations on the Flyer before launch before she had headed back to the Bridge to report her progress.

Coming back, she caught the tail end of the discussion about Chronitons. She was in no way fluent in that, but it did seem plausible enough. "œI've got the  Flyer up and running and just about as flight-ready as we can be so we can pick up the away team before the Landsers can hit us again, Sir. "œ

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

A puzzled expression crossed Alex's face and he glanced quizzically towards Ardyn before replying. "Apologies sir, I'm not sure what a boffing is. I was thinking on the communication issues we've been having with the away team, and I reckon we might be able to try something." He was becoming increasingly concerned about the team below, especially now that the Landsers knew about Challenger, and Galloway had made a, through no fault of his own, fairly taciturn first contact. It had been hours since the abandoned shuttle returned without them, still adrift several thousand kilometres away. Moving to one of the spare stations beside the conn, he nudged some clutter aside before accessing the same system Booker was using. "Since our probe is what the Landser are likely focusing the majority of their ground based stations upon to speak with us, and Lieutenant Booker had previously isolated the control frequencies used by the Landser satellites, I reckon we should be able to override, or hijack, one. We can broadcast a much stronger signal from up here, and don't have the same atmospheric interference to contend with."

Waiting for the still damaged ship's computer to process his inputs reminded him of being a child and playing with the old 21st century analog interfaces in the Discovery Centre at Cape Carnaval, where you could practically watch the machines 'think' and calculate responses. It took several extra minutes, but Alex finally managed to target a communications satellite in low synchronous orbit, right over the region that the away team had been before their shuttle deviated. A few minor orientation corrections and he'd turned one set of the satellite's antenna towards the probe, the other towards the ground. "It won't be a fully secure channel, sir, but you should be reach the away team, and the Flyer during it's retrieval mission." If they're still alive, he didn't find necessary to add.